Tablet play for SB

[Dog Soldier]

Have you tried to play the Squad Battles series games on a tablet PC?
Answer the poll by answering one of the first three questions, (1-3) then answering one of the second set of three questions if they apply to you (4-6). In the second set you can vote for more than one of the options if you have used more than one type of tablet for playing Squad Battles.
You should answer one of the second question set before clicking the Vote! button if you clicked on one of the first two in the first three questions.

Sorry for the way this is presented, but the polling app in the forums is limited in what it can do.

Write comments in this thread about your experience trying to play these games on a tablet device, good and bad.

What features would you want to see in a tablet version of these games.

Dog Soldier

[Rabbit]

I wasn't aware the SB could run on a tablet. I assumed the only non-laptop/desktop it had a chance to run on was Microsoft Surface Pro, being that it runs a "real" version of Windows.

However I couldn't justify paying $800+ for the convenience of running SB on a tablet when I already have a laptop. (But believe me I've thought about it!!!)

Now if it could run on an Android-based tablet which I could pick up for $250-400, that's a whole 'nother story!

[Dog Soldier]

I am looking for this kind of information Rabbit. I have heard some anecdotal stories of running these games from a tablet. Some involved actually running the game on a PC as a host for a peer to peer connected tablet. I have seen some discussion of WIN 8 OS play. Since WIN 8 is optimized for tablets and not PC's I wanted to know what was being tried out there.

Thanks for your post.

Dog Soldier

[Richie61]

I wasn't aware the SB could run on a tablet. I assumed the only non-laptop/desktop it had a chance to run on was Microsoft Surface Pro, being that it runs a "real" version of Windows.

However I couldn't justify paying $800+ for the convenience of running SB on a tablet when I already have a laptop. (But believe me I've thought about it!!!)

Now if it could run on an Android-based tablet which I could pick up for $250-400, that's a whole 'nother story!

I too didn't know about the tablet. I don't see why it wouldn't run on the
MS Surface. I have AutoCAD running on the Wife's surface, but don't tell
her that I messed around with it.

The Surface is a great device. It has run every game or program I have tried on it so far. Black Ops II runs like gang blasters!!! It's non a big iphone like some other
places stuff.

[Dog Soldier]

Interesting Richie. I clean forgot about the surface tablet.

Dog Soldier

[Rabbit]

Another option if you are really jonesing to play SB on a tablet is to install some sort of remote desktop applet on your tablet that provides a remote session to your laptop/desktop. Primarily I am thinking about Remote Desktop that comes with Windows, but a service like LogMeIn.com would probably work as well. (I don't have an iPad, so I'm not sure what remote desktop applets are available for it, but I'm sure there are some.)

Using a remote session, only the graphic display is sent back to your tablet (sort of as if it were a dumb monitor), while all of the heavy lifting is still being done on your laptop/desktop. This means your graphics might be a little choppy (primarily while replaying your opponent's moves or watching the AI make its moves) depending upon your network speed, but otherwise that should work like a charm.

From a security standpoint, it is okay to allow Remote Desktop connections within your home network (provided you use a password to log into your laptop/desktop). However if you want to get fancy and connect to your laptop/desktop over the Internet, then I'd recommend using a service like LogMeIn.com instead (unless you know what you are doing technically to keep your laptop/desktop secure).

I don't see any reason at all why this wouldn't work in theory, but I would be interested to hear anyone's experiences who actually tries this.

[Rabbit]

In re-reading your earlier posts, I realized I just provided a very long-winded version of what you had concisely stated as "running the game on a PC as a host for a peer to peer connected tablet".

[TheBigRedOne]

I think bringing in someone like Rich Hamilton to this discussion might be useful. He and the JTS/HPS team might have a good feel for what works well for their games. I'll drop him a line and direct him here...

[Rabbit]

I am sure it would be a royal PITA to port SB over to a mobile platform, as you'd have to rewrite the code from scratch. However on the other hand, SB's simplistic graphics (which have often been chided as being extremely outdated) actually would be a big asset in trying to make such a conversion. There is a dearth of intelligent strategy games on mobile platforms and SB's rather simplistic interface would seem to make it a perfect match for the mobile platform. And it certainly is a huge (and growing) market. : )

[Richie61]

I have a few games on my phone already. I have Combat Mission: Touch
and Small General: Eastern Front. http://www.vrdesigns.nl/?page_id=402

They are good to mess around with when just sitting around, but I would
want to play them everyday on my phone. The screen is just so darn small
and the games don't run super fast. All IMO that is.

Dog. The Surface does everything that a desktop does, but it's just a small
screen. My Wife brought her Surface to class and all the Ipad users went
crazy playing with it and couldn't believe that it was a small computer